You're Gonna Sound Like You: Tony Shepperd on Recording Vocals (Episode 126)

You learned how to make music. Nobody taught you how to make a living making music.

Tony Shepperd is a legendary producer, engineer and mixer, and the CEO of Breath of Life Records. His credits include records for Quincy Jones, Whitney Houston, Madonna, Boyz II Men, Diana Ross, Lionel Richie, Kenny Loggins, Take 6, Shelea and Kamasi Washington. He also makes a 16-channel summing mixer called the Mix Factory.

In Episode 126 of The Career Musician, Nomad talks with an old friend and collaborator about how a teenager who read album credits became an engineer-producer to the stars, and what you need to know about recording vocals at home. Here is what stood out.

He knew at 12

Most people are still figuring out what they want to do at 50. Tony knew at 12 or 14. He read the backs of albums, especially Earth, Wind & Fire records, and wanted to know how the engineer made them sound so good. He started working at a college media services department as a teenager.

There were no recording schools to speak of then, so he majored in photography with a business minor, and spent his college years buying gear. With a business partner, he built a studio from the ground up in Riverside. Then a friendship turned into the break.

Relationships built the career

Tony's dad had gone to college with the father of a founding member of Take 6. The two families connected, and Tony and the young producer talked production for three hours over tacos. A year later the call came: he was leaving the group to produce full time, and wanted Tony to come to Nashville and work with him.

That partnership led to big projects, a Grammy-winning gospel record, film work and years of sessions. Later, an engineer friend who had to leave town handed Tony a Kenny Loggins project. A production coordinator he had worked with called when Lionel Richie's engineer got sick. As Tony put it, it was right place, right time. But he was the one they trusted to call.

That is Work begets work, and Luck = preparation + opportunity.

Producer and engineer are interchangeable skill sets

Kenny Loggins once told Tony he blurs the line between engineer and producer. Tony took that as the compliment it was. Whether you were hired to engineer, produce or play acoustic guitar, if you hear that a bass line could be better, say so. What you bring to the table helps the record.

"Regardless of whether you've been hired for someone to engineer or to produce, they are interchangeable skill sets."

Tony Shepperd, 3:41

He also talked about mentoring. There was a time when studio A, B and C were all busy, and you would stick your head in the next room and ask who was playing drums. That camaraderie passed knowledge down. Now everyone works in their own cubicle, and a lot of it is getting lost. A new plug-in will not fix a track if you did not hire a great musician to begin with.

You're going to sound like you

Because he worked with so many great vocalists, Tony got pegged as the guy for real singers. Some artists think the right mic will make them sound like their heroes. He is honest about that.

"You're gonna sound like you. And the only thing that's going to change that is the amount of time and sacrifice that you put into changing it."

Tony Shepperd, 38:15

He pointed to a recent session where the singer was so good, and knew the mic and the room so well, that he did not put any EQ on her voice. Just a filter for the plosives. A great vocalist, a great mic, a great pre, a good compressor, and then get out of the way.

A home vocal chain that works

Nomad asked for practical advice on an affordable home rig. Tony's answers, in his words, are opinions from decades behind the glass:

• Record at 24-bit, 48 kHz. It is the industry standard, especially for anything that might end up in film. Lock it in.
• Buy a really good mic, then a really good mic pre, then a good compressor. Spread it out over time. A used mic can be a great buy.
• You can hear the difference between a cheap pre and a quality one, especially on acoustic instruments.
• Don't record in a completely dead box. Give the room a little life. If the walls are bouncing back at you, hang blankets.
• Test before you buy. Rent mics, pres and compressors, or book a few hours at a studio with a big mic locker and try them all.

His best story on this: a 300-dollar mic sounded so good on one artist that they used it for the whole record and sold a pile of expensive vintage mics. It does not have to be a 4,000-dollar mic. It has to work for you. Let the gear do the job it was built to do instead of forcing it with EQ.

For more on recording from home, Nomad's point stands: Make Music Your Business, and that includes the sound of what you send out.

Stay in your lane, and know when to call a pro

Tony does not play guitar or keys, and he does not pretend to. He knows his lane. He told players to firmly establish theirs too, and to hire an engineer when they get to the point where they need one. Nomad admitted he had called Tony more than once to rescue a mix and wished he had called sooner.

That is Objectivity from the ETHOS code: knowing what you are great at, and what you are not.

The takeaway

Tony's final words of wisdom: knowledge is power. Learn from the people who came before you. Know why a classic bass sounded the way it did, how a three-track orchestra and vocal recording was made, and what makes the 60s sound different from the 70s. Talk to other musicians, even ones who play instruments you don't. And there are no stupid questions.

"Knowledge is power. If you can learn from your predecessors, if you can understand how something was created..."

Tony Shepperd, 1:17:47

Find Tony at themixfactory.com. If you want to sharpen how you show up for the next session, start with the free Get the Gig Guide.

Get the gig. Keep the gig. Build the career.

Watch on YouTube or find every episode on the TCM Podcast page.